Hard to believe it’s already that time again, but here we are! Another year has past, and another Alliance Tournament is almost upon us! Alliance sign-ups have already come and gone, so if you were planning on getting your Alliance in, you’ve missed the boat. CCP have gone ahead and posted the teams that made it in along with this year’s rule changes, let’s have a look!

CVA Falls Asleep At The Switch, Will Not Compete

Speaking of missing the boat, Curatores Veritatis Alliance <CVA> will not be competing in this year’s alliance tournament. Sources have reported that the CVA executor thought that the submissions needed to be in by May 24. They found out the hard way that this was not the case, and so CVA will not be in the tournament for the first time in 13 years. This may be devastating news to some of their veteran members, but will hopefully serve as a painful reminder to get that submission in early next year!

In Like Flynn: The Buy-Ins and Auction Winners

As always, a secret auction was held to both collect PLEX for prizes and to get some of the alliances guaranteed slots in the tournament. We won’t copy and paste the list here since you can see it at the link above, but we will offer congratulations to The Bastion <BASTN> on their successful bid on getting into the tournament this year. We look forward to a stellar performance! Goonswarm Federation will be fighting their way in through the feeder rounds, so we’ll have to keep our eyes peeled for that!

The Fine Print: Rules And Regulations

The rules this year don’t seem to have a great number changes from last year, you can have a look at them for yourself here. Probably one of the most notable rule changes for this year is that the Alliance Tournament is sponsored by the Serpentis Corporation, so Serpentis ships will have a reduced point cost for the teams that have the ability or opportunity to use them. With collusion between teams becoming a growing concern in recent tournaments, the rules around that have been reworked to be stated more clearly. Even things such as sharing strategy could be considered collusion, so AT competitors should be careful to keep their contact with opponents minimal at best. In addition to the rules, an important thing to keep in mind is that CCP will be releasing some major balance changes on July 11th. Since nobody knows what those may be at this point, and the balance changes happen regardless of the AT schedule, it should make pre-planning and practicing a bit more difficult. The winner of this tournament will have to be extra resourceful and creative!

Two Teams Enter…Two Teams Leave? Thunderdome Open For Practice!

Similarly to last year, the Thunderdome server will be open for those interested in practicing before the feeder rounds and tournament proper. Those teams interested should get a hold of CCP Logibro (logibro@ccpgames.com) with the details laid out here. Flying in the AT is a little bit different from the usual style of PVP in EVE Online, so the experience gained in practicing on  Thunderdome can add a sense of familiarity before you get yourself to the tournament. While you’re getting your feet wet in the Thunderdome, you may want to start developing your fleet comps for the tournament if you haven’t already done so. It can be a bit of a daunting process if you haven’t done it before. Fortunately, there’s an app for that! Follow this link to the AT Quick Comp Creator. Not only will it help you to figure out your fleet comp, but it also has a handy list with the point values associated with each ship! Now get out there and blow some stuff up!

Alliance Tournament action will be heating up soon, with the feeder rounds beginning June 10th. The tournament officially begins July 29th and ends August 20th.